Further delay to Greek government bail-out talks

A meeting among Greece’s political leaders on austerity measures linked to its international bail-out has been delayed for the second day in a row as fears grow that the country will default on its loans.

Officials speaking on behalf of Lucas Papademos, the country’s prime minister, said that talks would now take place on Wednesday morning (8 January).

The deadline for an agreement on austerity measures – the most controversial of which is the reduction of the minimum wage – was Sunday (5 January) but leaders of parties in the governing coalition could not reach a deal.

Agreement on the austerity measures are needed before Greece gets its next bail-out cash. Finance ministers from eurozone member states will hold a meeting in Brussels to approve the deal and release the loan once parties in Greece reach consensus.

Earlier in the day European officials and politicians appeared to differ on the best way forward for Greece.

In an interview, Jan Kees de Jager, the finance minister of the Netherlands, said that the “chaotic situation” in Greece “could hurt all of us and that is why we are doing all we can to keep Greece in the Eurozone”.

He added that it was “essential the Greek leaders act now and implement all necessary measures”.

In Brussels José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, said that all Europe had “its eyes now on Athens”.He said: “The costs of a default of Greece, the costs of a possible exit of Greece from the euro would be much higher than the costs of continuing to support Greece.”

It was an apparent rebuke to Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for the digital agenda, who earlier in the day told a Dutch newspaper that the eurozone did not need Greece.

“It is absolutely not a case of man overboard if someone leaves the eurozone,” she said. “ It's always said: if you let one nation go, or ask one to leave, the entire structure will collapse. But that is just not true.”